Academic Integrity

Catalog Year: 2015-2016

Hendrix College is committed to
high standards of honesty and fairness in academic pursuits. Such
standards are central to the process of intellectual inquiry, the
development of character, and the preservation of the integrity of the
community.

Hendrix College cultivates an active interest
in the liberal arts and intellectual inquiry where students take
responsibility for their own actions. In keeping with this mission, the
faculty and students of Hendrix College have adopted a set of standards
and procedures designed to:

Involve students and faculty mutually in the academic judicial process,

Specify the procedures to be followed for incidents of academic dishonesty,

Help create a supportive and fair learning environment,

Cultivate an on-going dialogue about academic values within the Hendrix Community.

In pursuit of these goals, Hendrix students have agreed to adhere to the following principles:

All students have an equal right to their opinions and to receive constructive criticism.

Students should positively engage the course material and encourage their classmates to do the same.

No students should gain an unfair advantage or violate their peers’
commitment to honest work and genuine effort. It follows that any work
that a student submits for class will be that student’s own work. The
amount of cooperation undertaken with other students, the consistency
and accuracy of work, and the test-taking procedure should adhere to
those guidelines that the instructor provides.

Members of the
Hendrix community value and uphold academic integrity because we
recognize that scholarly pursuits are aimed at increasing the shared
body of knowledge and that the full disclosure of sources is the
most effective way to ensure accountability to both ourselves and our
colleagues.

Violations of these standards of academic integrity may take one of the following six forms:

Plagiarism, which involves the use of quotations without quotation
marks, the use of quotations without indication of the source, the use
of another’s idea without acknowledging the source, the submission of a
paper or project (or any portion of such) prepared by another person;

Cheating on examinations, laboratory reports, exercises, or projects
that are to be done by individual students; giving or receiving answers
and/or materials pertinent to any academic work without permission of
the instructor;

Stealing, manipulating, or interfering with any academic work of another student;

Collusion with other students on work that is to be completed by an individual student;

Lying to or deceiving faculty; or

Violating particular standards as determined and explicitly outlined by
individual faculty members on a course by course basis. These
particular standards should be clearly indicated on the syllabus for
each course.

Instances of academic dishonesty are handled
in a two-track system that distinguishes between minor and major
violations. The distinction between minor and major violations is made
by the instructor of record except in the case of repeat offenders.
Repeat offenses are treated as major violations. Otherwise, the
distinction between minor and major violation is subjective and is
intended to differentiate between cases of ignorance, such as poor
citation, and cases of deliberate dishonesty. Sanctions for minor
violations are determined by the faculty member in agreement with the
student being charged and in consideration of established guidelines.
Records of minor violations are submitted to the Committee on Academic
Integrity for inclusion in a database to track repeat offenders. In
addition, these records may be divulged to Hendrix faculty and staff
requesting information relevant to awards and honors. Records of single
violations shall not be divulged to outside parties such as employers
and graduate schools. The Committee shall handle all major violations
and repeat violations.

Composition of the Committee: The
Committee consists of six members of the Student Association and five
faculty members. The Student Senate nominates and selects student
members in the same manner as the College Conduct Council. The
College’s Committee on Committees nominates the faculty members. The
Committee on Committees also identifies the faculty committee chair.

A
minimum of five members of the Committee on Academic Integrity
including at least two faculty and two student members is required to
hold a formal hearing. Hearing groups are formed by the chair from the
available committee members.

The chair is responsible for
the following: convening the Committee whenever a report has been
filed; serving as the official, corresponding liaison between the
Committee and the concerned parties; being the contact person for all
questions concerning the process and procedure of the Committee; and
transmitting all committee decisions to the concerned parties through an
Official Letter of Decision.

Committee Process: All
alleged violations of academic standards must be reported to the
Committee on Academic Integrity. Report of a violation can be filed in
one of three ways:

If the violation is determined to be minor, a
student and a faculty member may agree to sanctions and are only
required to report the violation to report the violation to the chair of
the Committee on Academic Integrity. The chair could then accept the
report and file it without committee involvement, unless further action
was deemed warranted by inconsistencies of sanctions or by previous
violations.

If the violation is determined to be major, a
faculty or staff member may file a report with the chair resulting in a
formal hearing.

A student may either inform the instructor of
record, who files a report with the chair, or file a report directly
with the chair. In either case the chair shall establish appropriate
deliberations and sanctions with respect to the severity of the
violation in consultation with the instructor of record and the
Committee.

All reports must be made in writing and if a
major violation is determined, the Committee shall convene within two
weeks of that report, provided this conforms to the academic calendar.
If the academic calendar does not allow such convention, the case will
be revisited during the first two weeks of the next academic session.
Whoever files the alleged violation report to the Committee must attend
the hearing. At this meeting, all statements and evidence will be
presented. All parties have the right to introduce evidence or
witnesses. A student facing academic integrity allegations must continue
through the hearing process even if the student has withdrawn from the
class in which the alleged violations took place.

A
simple majority may postpone a decision if certain evidence deemed
crucial to the case has not been presented. A decision may be postponed
only twice, and on each occasion the Committee must reconvene within a
week, provided this conforms to the academic calendar.

In
order to protect the confidentiality of students, all Committee
deliberations are held in confidence, as are all decisions and potential
sanctions. Furthermore, at the beginning of each academic year, every
member of the Committee must sign a confidentiality statement to protect
the privacy of deliberations.

The Committee is to use
the sentiments expressed within this document to render a decision on
each particular case. The Committee has two options in rendering a
decision:

In violationOR

Not in violation

A
student is in violation of the standards of academic integrity only
when a majority of the hearing committee concur that a violation has
occurred. If the Committee finds a student to be in violation of the
standards of academic integrity, it also hands down a particular
sanction in direct consultation with the instructor of record. The
Committee must strongly consider the recommended sanction from the
instructor of record. A majority of the hearing committee must agree
upon specific sanctions. If a student is not found to be in violation of
the standards of academic integrity, no further action will be taken.

The Committee shall retain all records of major and
repeat violations for a period of six years, after which the records are
purged. During the six year period that records of major and repeat
violations are retained, inquiring parties (e.g., employers or graduate
schools) who directly ask whether or not a student has violations of
academic integrity will be informed that a major or repeat violation
exists (although the details of the violation will not be released).

Appropriate sanctions may include one or more of the following five options:

Allowing the student to resubmit the assignment with the understanding
that a predetermined number of penalty points will be deducted from the
student’s total score;

Giving the student a O on the assignment in question;

Giving the student an F for the course;

A major or repeat violation may result in placing the student on
academic integrity probation. This means that if a student is later
found guilty of another academic integrity violation, the sanction will
automatically consist of suspension or expulsion (with such a
recommendation, the Provost of the College is the consulting officer).

In severe cases, placing the student on suspension and/or expulsion
(with such a recommendation, the Provost is the consulting officer).

Students
are still subject to these sanctions if they have withdrawn from a
class in which an academic integrity violation took place. When a
decision has been reached, it is transmitted to the involved parties
through an Official Letter of Decision from the Chair. Included in this
Letter is the decision of the Committee and the prescribed sanction, if
the student is found to be in violation of the standards of academic
integrity. Copies of this letter are also sent to the faculty adviser,
the instructor of record, the Registrar’s Office, the Provost, the Vice
President for Student Affairs, and the Associate Provost for Advising
and Retention. Also, if the student is listed with the Registrar’s
Office as being financially dependent, the Committee will send a copy of
the letter to those whom the student is dependent upon.

Appeals: All academic integrity-related decisions are subject to appeal. Intent
to appeal must be filed in writing with the Office of Academic Affairs
no later than one week after the Committee’s decision. The Provost will
decide if there are sufficient grounds for appeal, and, if such grounds
are found, the Provost will forward the case to the Committee on
Academic Appeals, whose decision is final. The appeals process should
be completed within four weeks of filing, exclusive of breaks in the
academic year.